As parents, when we enroll our children in a school, we entrust it to care for our kids and keep them safe. That’s certainly true for private K-12 schools which can cost upwards of $15,000 to $30,000 a year. Some parents believe that religiously affiliated schools are particularly trustworthy because of their spiritual teachings.

But, of course, all schools—be they religious or secular—can leave children vulnerable to psychological harm, as well as physical and sexual abuse. Now there is a case in the courts in which the Episcopal School of Dallas has been alleged to have caused a child emotional trauma, while the school claims that no court has the right to intervene because it is faith-based.Read More »

Children are a blessing, and that enrages the horrifying nature of those who seek only to kill and to destroy. . . . Let’s grieve for the innocent. Let’s demand justice for the guilty. And let’s rage against the Reptile behind it all.

—Russell D. Moore

There is a lot of talk today from the Religious Right about "protecting the unborn," but there is not enough talk about protecting the children we already have from abuse. . . . Our children are our future. And our children are our moral responsibility.

—Anne Rice

Forgiveness does not come from a position of powerlessness but from a place of empowerment and a degree of safety. . . . Justice, imperfect though it may be, makes forgiveness possible. The wound may heal even if the scar remains. In this healing, the body survives and may thrive, in spite of the scars and memories. Whether for a nation, a neighborhood, or an individual who has suffered trauma at the hands of an aggressor, justice is the key to healing and to a future.

—Rev. Dr. Marie M. Fortune

He told me that, because he was a man of God and he represented Christ in the flesh, it would be spiritual and natural for him to take care of me sexually. . . . But even though I felt that it was wrong, afterwards I thought, because [he] said he was a man of God and he brought up those things from the Bible, somehow, it was okay, or holy.

—Lindsay Tornambe, child sexual abuse survivor

Free the child's potential, and you will transform him into the world.